Has D&D jumped the shark?

[Aus_Snow]

I even remember someone talking about running a game for a bunch of strippers at one time...

Heh, that's nothing, I . . .

Um, no. Actually, that's pretty hard to top.

And I think trying could be very bad. It's not 'The Thread' after all.

 

[ZuulMoG]

D&D jumped the shark when Gary lost control of it.

 

[Sammael]

D&D jumped the shark when Gary lost control of it.

Sure. Because, as evidenced by Gary's more recent products, he is still the creative genius whose imagination ignited the fires of roleplaying across the world. Or something. I mean, everybody is playing Lejendary Adventures, right?

No person is infallible. No person is solely responsible for the success of a venture. No person should be revered as a god.

 

[Glyfair]

All I'm saying is that their "findings"; what little we know about them, seem odd. I'd love to see the actual results of their marketing research. From what I remember of the parts they did reveal, there wasn't much in the way of market research that would lead to any conclusion whatsoever about "fragmenting the consumer base." They were more concerned about player habits in general -- how often folks played, how many people played, which games they played, D&D's market share relative to its competitors, etc.

I doubt that WotC would release the details of the research that would show it. However, the basic trend would likely be easy enough to find if the right data was available.

Fudging a time frame here (because I don't have a timeline for D&D settings available):

Forgotten Realms becomes D&D's best selling product over Greyhawk giving them 3 settings ("Mystara", Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk).
Dark Sun is released, sales of Forgotten Realms goes down.
Al-Qadim is released, sales of Dark Sun and Forgotten Realms goes down.
Birthright is released, sales of other settings go down.
Planescape is released, sales of other settings go down.
New emphasis is placed on Greyhawk, sales of other settings go down.

Now, certainly there will be variations. Planescape's growth would likely hurt some settings more than others. Still, the evidence would likely be there.

 

[diaglo]

D&D jumped the shark when Gary lost control of it.

before then.

MerricB and I already told you the truth of the matter.

D&D jumped the shark with Supplement I Greyhawk (1975)... which was even before the Fonz did it in Happy Days.